MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Former Australia Prime  Minister John Howard has been nominated by the Australian and  New Zealand boards to serve as International Cricket Council  (ICC) president from 2012.

“We are pleased that an eminent candidate in John Howard  has agreed, after an exhaustive process, to take the role of  joint Australia-New Zealand nominee for the ICC presidency,”  Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket chairmen Jack Clarke  and Alan Isaac said in a joint statement yesterday.

“Australia and New Zealand considered a number of  distinguished candidates of global stature before deciding to  invite John Howard to consider the role”.

The ICC’s rotation policy requires an Australasian  candidate to fill the role from 2012. Incumbent president David  Morgan is due to hand over to India’s Sharad Pawar for a  two-year term later this year.